Wednesday reality vets down, still top night: Univision moves up

ABC's 'Witness' delivers gains

July 12, 2012|Rick Kissell | Variety

A week off for the Fourth of July holiday may have impacted Wednesday's biggest summer shows, as NBC's ''America's Got Talent'' and Fox's ''So You Think You Can Dance'' both returned this week to their lowest scores of summer, though they still topped the night among young adults. Fox won Wednesday in both adults 18-49 and total viewers, while Univision moved up into a second-place tie in the demo with NBC. According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, Fox's ''So You Think You Can Dance'' won the opening hour in 18-49 and then placed a close second to NBC's ''Talent'' in the 9 o'clock hour, racking up a two-hour average of 1.9/6 in 18-49 and 5.7 million viewers overall , down 10% from two weeks ago. ''Dance'' was the night's No. 1 program outright among persons 12-34 (1.6/6). At NBC, ''America's Got Talent'' (1.9/6 in 18-49, 7.9 million viewers overall) tumbled about 30% from two weeks ago to hit a season low; it was the night's No. 1 program outright in adults 25-54 (2.6/7) and total viewers. Also on the night, the net aired encores of ''Off Their Rockers'' (1.2/4 in 18-49, 4.6 million viewers overall) and ''Up All Night'' (0.7/2 in 18-49, 2.8 million viewers overall) in the 8 o'clock hour and closed with a repeat of ''Law and Order: SVU'' (1.2/4 in 18-49, 4.8 million viewers overall). Univision was solid across the night with ''Un Refugio para el Amor'' (1.4/5 in 18-49, 3.5 million viewers overall), ''Abismo de Pasion'' (1.4/4 in 18-49, 3.8 million viewers overall) and ''La Que No Podia Amar'' (1.5/4 in 18-49, 4.0 million viewers overall). Among adults 18-49, ''Podia Amar'' has been consistently beating out the broadcasters in the 10 o'clock hour. ABC's ''Final Witness'' (1.1/3 in 18-49, 4.3 million viewers overall) was up a tick from two weeks ago and more than doubled its holiday delivery of last week; that left it close behind the repeat crime dramas on NBC and CBS. Earlier, the Alphabet aired repeats of ''The Middle'' (1.0/4 in 18-49, 3.8 million viewers overall), ''Suburgatory'' (1.0/3 in 18-49, 3.3 million viewers overall) and then a pair of ''Modern Family'' episodes (1.4/4 in 18-49, 3.7 million viewers overall at 9; 1.4/4 in 18-49, 3.8 million viewers overall at 9:30). CBS aired the finale of ''Dogs in the City'' (0.9/3 in 18-49, 4.7 million viewers overall), a show that never really clicked with auds in its first season and isn't expected to return to the net. It was followed by repeats of ''Criminal Minds'' (1.1/3 in 18-49, 5.2 million viewers overall) and ''CSI'' (1.1/3 in 18-49, 5.4 million viewers overall). Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 1.9/6; Univision, 1.4/5; NBC, 1.4/4; ABC, 1.1/4; CBS, 1.0/3; CW, 0.3/1. In total viewers: Fox, 5.7 million; NBC, 5.5 million; CBS, 5.1 million; ABC, 3.9 million; Univision, 3.8 million; CW, 0.7 million.